1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a method and a structure for assembling a meter module to an automotive instrument panel, which meter module incorporates therein meters, their control circuits and the like.
2. Description of the Related Art
To form electric circuits in and around an automotive instrument panel, wiring harnesses--which embody predetermined circuits--are conventionally manually laid along the body of an automobile and the dashboard of the instrument panel, followed by coupling connectors attached to the wiring harnesses to those on the part of the switches and meters.
Meanwhile, in accordance with the electronization and advanced electric control in automobiles, the instrument panel in front of a driver is provided with an increasing number of switches and meters, resulting in the related circuits complicated and thus in a fat and heavy wiring harness. Difficulty is encountered in housing such wiring harnesses in a limited space, resulting in their assembling work found troublesome and inefficient.
Under these circumstances, there is proposed, for simplifying electric circuits in an around the instrument panel, a meter module M in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Specification No. 96774/1995, which is as shown in FIG. 4. The meter module M comprises a cluster module d and a finish panel e attached at the front of the cluster module d. The cluster module d comprises an instrument board a implemented with meters/indicating lamps and their drive circuits, an electric junction box b distributing an electric supply and input/output signals for on-vehicle electric equipment including the above-mentioned meters/indicating lamps, and a switch unit c having switches for the on-vehicle electric equipment, all of which are integrally combined together.
The meter module M, as shown in FIG. 5, is fitted in a predetermined position in the instrument panel f, and connectors i and h respectively attached to the meter module M and to a wiring harness g on the vehicle side are coupled together to electrically connect the meter module M and the wiring harness g.
Meter modules such as that mentioned above allow electric wires or cables to be simplified, but are inevitably of large size for a module structure due to an increase in the number of components and the like which result from the increased complexity of their internal circuits. As a result, such meter modules become difficult to position accurately for their assembly to the instrument panel, resulting in their connectors largely displaced from proper position for coupling with mating connectors attached to wiring harnesses on the vehicle side, and thus in the working efficiency lowered.
As a countermeasure to the above, knock pins may be employed for accurate positioning. There is a drawback, however, that due to the increase in size and weight of the module structure, knock pins are subject to damages during the position-adjusting operation of the module structure for assembly of the latter to the instrument panel, and require cautious handling.